Continuous furnace



F. T. COPE ET AL CONTINUOUS FURNACE Filed March 29. 1928 3 Sheets-Sheet gwve'nkow Frail/i 77; Cape W v MO Dec. 3', 1929.

T. COPE ET AL CONTINUOUS FURNACE Filed March 29, 1928 3 Sheets-Sheet Patented Dec. 3, 1929 UNITED STATES FRANK T. COPE AND ARTHUR H. VAUGHAN,

PATENT OFFICE OF SALEM, OHIO, ASSIGNORS TO THE ELECTRIC FURNACE COMPANY, OF SALEM, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO OONTLNUOUS FURNACE Application filed March 29, 1928. Serial No. 265,609.

The invention relates to furnaces for heat treating small articles of irregular shape and more particularly to a continuous furnace, which may be of non-circular shape, in which '5 the articles are carried through the fui nace in trays or pans.

The object of the improvement is to provide a rectangular furnace having a plurality of detached, movable trays for carrying the articles to be heat treated, means being provided for continuously or intermittently moving said trays through the furnace in a continuous path and for charging the material upon the trays ata certain point in or adjacent to the furnace and for dumping the trays to discharge the material as they again approach the charging point.

The above and other objects may be attained by a construction such as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a plan sectional view of the improved furnace;

Fig. 2, an enlarged longitudinal vertical section substantially on the line 22, Fig. 1;

Fig. 3, an enlarged transverse section substantially on the line 33, Fig. 1; and

Fig. 4, a plan sectional view similar to Fig. 1 of a modified form of the improved furnace. Similar numerals refer to similar parts throughout the drawings.

The invention is illustrated in the drawings as applied to an elongated rectangular furnace indicated generally at 1, and having the central longitudinal partition wall 2 which sub. stantially divides the furnace into the lon 'itudinal chambers 3 and 4, located side by side the wall 2 being provided with an aperture 5 at each end, forming the only communication between the chambers.

Rails or supports 6, which may be of heat resisting alloy, are located in the chambers 3 and 4 and also through the openings 5 in the ends of the partition wall 2 in order that the trays or pans 7, also of heat resisting alloy, may be moved upon the rails throughout the length of each of the chambers and from each chamber into the other chamber in a continuous path.

Instead of providing material communicating passages 5 at each end of the furnace chambers, communication may be provided at one end only, the rails extending outside of the other ends of the chambers as shown in F ig. 4:.

With such a construction the charging may be accomplished upon the outside and the discharging of material may be outside of the furnace or just before the tray is ejected from the furnace.

The furnace would otherwise be constructed substantially as illustrated and hereinafter described, the continuous track merely extending outside of one end of the furnace to permit charging at that point.

Each of the trays or pans may be provided with the upturned flanges 8 around three sides while at the fourth side it is provided with the upwardly inclined end portion 9 terminating in a depending flange 10.

The rails 6 are provided with the flanges 11 at their longitudinal edges for guiding the pans, said flanges being removed at the end portions of the chambers to permit the pans to be moved through the openings 5 from one chamber to the other.

A charging chute 12 may be provided near one end of the chamber 3 whereby each pan, I

as it reaches the position shown at A, may be charged with material from said chute. A door 13 may be provided for normally closing the charging chute to prevent heat loss therethrough. i

A pusher or plunger 14 is located at the charging end of the chamber 3 and adapted to be operated by any suitable means such as the fluid cylinder 15. This pusher is arranged to move the pans, upon the rails,,

through the chamber 3 in the direction of the arrow shown in Fig. 1.

Near the opposite end of the chamber 3 is tion of the arrow shown in Fig. 1.

As each pan reaches the discharge point, shown at B, it may be received upon a rocking cradle as shown at 20, adapted to be rocked to the broken line position shown in Fig. 2 in order to raise one portion of each pan and lower another portion to discharge the contents of the pan over the inclined end 9 into the discharge chute 21.

The operation of this rocking cradle is preferably synchronized with the operation ,of the pusher 18 so that as each pan of material reaches the position B, the cradle is rocked to discharge the material therefrom.

The operating mechanism for this cradle may comprise a fluid actuated cylinder 22, the plun er 23 of which'has a pivoted joint at 24. (fine arm 25 of a bell crank may. be connected .to the plunger 23, the other arm 26 thereof being connected to a link 27 which is also connected to the arm 28 which rocks the cradle.

The lower end of the discharge chute 21 is preferably normally closed as by the door 29 which may be arrangpd to be opened simultaneously with the roc ing of the cradle 20. In order to accomplish this operation of the .door, the saine may be carried by a rocker arm 30 fixed upon the rocker shaft 31, the.

rocker arm 32 upon said shaft being pivotally connected to the plunger 23.

Thus as the cradle 20 is rocked into the dischargin position shown in broken lines in Fig. 2,t e door 29 'will be moved to the open position shown in said figure, permittin the material discharged from the pan at to pass through the discharge chute and be dis-.

charged from the furnace. As the cradle is moved back to the normal sition, the door will be automatically closed.

A pusher 33 is located near the discharge end of the chamber 4 and adapted to move the pans transversely through the adjacent opening 5, from the discharge position in the chamber 4 to the charging position in the chamber 3. Thispusher may be operated as by the fluid cylinder 34.

In the operation of the furnace, each pan is empty as it reaches the charging position .A at'which time the proper amount of material may be charged therein through the charging chute 12, after which the door 13 is closed, preventing heat loss from the charging chute. f i

Assuming the pans to be in the position shown in Fig. 1, the operation of the plunger 16 will move the pans shown'at C and D transversely a distance equal to the width of one of the pans. The pan C will be moved into the adjacent end of the chamber 4 and the pan D will be moved to the position now occupied by the pan C.

The plunger- 14 is then operated to advance all of the pans in the chamber 3 in the direction of the arrow a distance equal to the length of one pan, leaving the charging space at A empty.

Assuming that the pan at B has discharged its material and the cradle been moved back to the normal position, the pusher 33 is then operated to move the pan E into the charging position A and the Pan at B to the posit1on now occupied by the pan E.

The plunger 18 is then 0 erated to move all of thepans in the chain er 4 longitudinall through said chambers in the direction of t e arrow, advancing the pan now at F to the charging position B.

The cradle is then rocked to discharge the material from said pan and when the same is righted, the operation above described-is repeated continuously.

The chambers 3 and 4 are adapted to be independently heated by any suitable and well known means which may be electric resistance elements as shown at 35 although gas, oil or other heating apparatus may be used without departing from the invention. The modified form of furnace shown in Fig. 4 corresponds in every respect to the furnace shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 excepting that the charging and discharging of material takes place outside of the furnace chamber. This is accomplished by providing the wall 1 adjacent one end of the furnace having an entrance opening 40 adjacent the charging position A and having an exit opening 41 adjacent the discharging position Each of the openings 40 and 41 may be large enough to permit the passage of one of the trays or pans 7 longit'udinally there-- through.

We claim: i i

1. A furnace having a discharge. point, a. support extending around the furnace and terminating at both ends adjacent to the discharge point, a plurality of material carryin'g pans mounted for movement upon said support, means for'moving the pans upon the support, and means for raising one portion and lowering another portion of each pan asit reaches the discharge point.

2. A furnace having a discharge point, a support extending around the furnace and terminating at both ends adjacent to the discharge point, a plurality of material carrying pans mounted for movement upon said support, means for moving the pans upon the support, anda cradle at the discharge point charge point.

3. A furnace having a discharge chute, a door normally closing said chute,a support extending around the furnace and terminating at both ends adjacent to the discharge chute, a plurality of material carrying pans mounted for movement upon said support, means for moving the pans uponthe support and means for tilting each pan as it reaches the discharge chute and for simultaneously opening the door upon said chute.

4. furnace having a discharge chute, a door normally closing said chute, a support extending around the furnace and terminating at both ends adjacent to the discharge chute, a plurality of material carrying pans mounted for movement upon said support, means for moving the pans upon the support, a cradle at the discharge point adapted to tilt each pan as it reaches the discharge point,

a and means for simultaneously tilting the cradle and opening said door.

5. A furnace having two chambers located side by side and communicating with each other at their ends, a discharge point in one of said chambers, a support extending through said chambers and terminating at both ends at the discharge point, a lurality of material carrying pans mounted or movement upon said support, means for moving t e pans upon the support and means for raising one portion and lowering another portien of each pan as it reaches the discharge point.

6. A furnace having two chambers located side by side and communicating with each other at their ends, a discharge oint in one of said chambers, a support exten 'ng through said chambers and terminating at both ends at the discharge point, a plurality of mate rial carrying pans mounted for movement upon said support, means for moving the pans upon the support and a cradle at the discharge point adapted to tilt each pan as it reaches. the discharge point.

7. A furnace having two chambers located side by side and communicating with each other'at their ends, a discharge point in one of said chambers, a charging point adjacent to the discharge point, a support extending through the chambers and terminating at both ends adjacent to the discharge point, a plurality of material carrying pans mounted formovement upon said'su port, means for step by step movement of the pans upon the support, means for raising one portion and lowering another portion of each pen as it reaches the discharge point and means for moving each pan from the discharge point to the charging point.

8. A furnace having two chambers located side by side and having a material communi catmg passage at one end, independent means for heating each chamber, a support extend- 

